Improved method of constructing columns



. county of Ghester and have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Mode of Constructing Columns NITED S'IAfrns PATEN Frrcn.

enonen wALrnns'ANn 'rnoMAs snnrrnn, or rncnnrxvILLE, PA.

AmnPRovlzD METHOD oF coNsTRuc-rme coLuMNs, ac.

--To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE WALTERs and THOMAS' SHAFFEB. of Phoenixville, in the tate of Pennsylvania,

or Shafts of Wrought-Iron or Steel; and .we do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear,l and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation and section of a complete column; Fig. 2 is an inside view of base or cap and section of the column; Fig. 3 is a section'through one of the disks; and Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are sections showing various forms of columns or shafts.

The same letters in all the figures are used to designate identical parts. Our invention consists -in the construction of columns or shafts of wrought-iron or steel plates ofP any desired form, said plates being curved or bent outward in the ,middle on the 'line of their widthland-arranged around a cen,

We have illustrated in the drawings columns made of six plates of various forms. Different numbers may be made use of, but not less than three.

a. a a are bars `or plates of wrought-iron or steel, the latter being especially useful'where, as in long s'pa'ns for bridges, it is desirable to combine strength with lightness. These plates maybe rolledv to any desired form, according 4 to the architectural design. -These plates or bars must, however, be so rolledthat, while their edges bear against the internal rings; the

middle part shall project, so as to leave a space between it andthe central `rings. The plates or bars, being cnt to the required length, are placed against one another and secured to rings b b b by bolts. or' rivetscc c passing through the plate into the rings. v'.lhe long bolts shown in Figs. 2.and 3 'pass entirely throughA the middle part of the column, uniting opposite plates. h The column being thus constructed is turnedv oli' to the desired lengthto receivethe cap and base D D. The base is shown in Fig. 1 as con-- A of the column. A groove isformed in the casting around th' flange to receive the ends of the plates a.. This groove must, of course, be vadapted in outline to the form of the column. Asili the case illustrated the groove is not round; it cannot be turned 'out to receive the square end ofthe tubular column; it is there; 'fore necessary to fill the groove, or partlytill-4 it, with a packing of metal `suitableto resist the pressure.

- In Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, are formed of wroughtriron and grooved at the points f f Vto receive the segments and guide` them into their proper places.- The rivets may Y be secured to the rings by being first-'securedor cast -into them and afterward riveted` to the plates or bolts with proper heads'maybe'used;

screwed into the rings through the plates. These columns may be made of any form and of any required strength. `,They are cheaply constructed and require but littlel machinery to manufacture them. They 'dier from the col-4 umns shown in another application made by us, in dispensing with theexternal' cramping-1 bars, which are sometimes objectionable as marring the symmetry of the xdesign. They are also distinguished fromall others heretofore constructed in this, that4 no external hoops are used, and that the archedplates, as they are drawn down `by the screws or rivets at the center, have their 4edges compressed.' against the rings. The same force, by pressing.- laf r,ainst the rings in the middle oithe spaces between 'the edges of the plates, tends ,to force the rings' :outwardly against the edges of theplates, thus bracing the column and givingfitjincreased rigidity.' 1. l

We make no' claim, broadly, to ywroughtmetal shafts or columnsrnor 'toshafts or col., umnsmade of lmetallic plates and disks; nor to any particnlar shape, transversely orotlier:l wise, of which'such columns or shafts are sus- 'fceptible5 but v A f Whatwo claim as our invention, and desireto secure by Letters Patent,'isl structed with :a flange, extending upward into 1 the space ,inside ofthe/plates forming the shell vand s the disk-rings b 'b Thenmnnei'ol'constructingeolumnsorsl-iztf'ts In testimony whereof We'haLve Signed oiir of Wrought-iron or steel piates,eu1ved or bent names to this specification in the presence of on the line of' their width, and attached by two subscribing witnesses. bolts or rivets to internal rines or disks so '1 shaped in relation to said platebs that a space *GEORGE YvALThl-b' shall be lett between them iu order that the THOMAS HAFFER' plates may be drawn down and their edges Witnesses: brought into close contact by the compression V. N. SHAFFER,

of said rivets or bolts, substantially as set forth. P. G. CAREY. 

